Banner mounting construction



Nov. 29, 1960 155 2,961,787

BANNER MOUNTING CONSTRUCTION Filed May 25, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR.

By Elliol'l' .IKies E; film, MW9 W ATTORNEYS E. J. KIES BANNER MOUNTINGCONSTRUCTION Nov. 29, 1960 Filed May 25, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V ENTOR. Y ElliOtZ JKies B ATTORNEYS United States PatentO 2,961,787 BANNERMOUNTING CONSTRUCTION Elliott J. Kies, Massillon, Ohio, assignor to TheMassillon- Cleveland-Akron Sign Company, Massillon, Ohio, a corporationof Ohio Filed May 25, 1959, Ser. No. 815,596

1 Claim. (Cl. 40-128) This invention relates to a mounting constructionfor banners and signs. More particularly it pertains to improvements insuspension and tensioned supports for flexible banners or signs, such asshown in Patents Nos. 2,764,830 and 2,882,630, which pertain to a pairof banners or signs mounted on opposite sides of a single ole. p Thebanner mounting construction for mounting on a single pole includessuspension and tension means for holding the banners in parallel planesforming a boxlike structure which yields slightly to varying weatherconditions such as the wind. The suspension and tension means disclosedin said patents permits the entire assembly of the banners to rotateslightly on the pole in response to strong gusts of wind so that thedisclosures --.of said patents are well adapted for mounting the bannerson a single pole or standard for supporting a permanent sign.

Currently there is a tendency to use two poles or standards forsupporting a permanent sign. For example, on filling station lots apermanent sign may be mounted on a single pole which is particularlyadapted to the temporary campaign type of advertising involving flexiblebanners or signs such as disclosed in said patents. More recenttendencies involve the use of two closely spaced poles for the supportof a permanent sign.

One difficulty with existing mounting means for banners and signs offlexible sheetlike material is that the suspension and tension means forone pole are not readily adapted for two pole banner mountingconstructions. It is therefore necessary to provide a differentarrangement whereby flexible sheetlike banners or signs may be mountedin pairs on opposite sides of pairs of spaced poles without minimizingthe adaptability of the sheetlike banners to Withstand changing weatherconditions such as the sun, rain, and strong gusts of wind.

It has been found that upper and lower suspension and tension means mustbe modified in order to provide adequate support for holding thesheetlike banners on two poles in a taut, flat, unfluted condition atall times except for permitting the sheetlike banners to yieldtemporarily under strong winds to prevent their permanent destruction.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide bannermounting construction for maintaining a flexible banner or sign intension and for holding the banner in a flat, sheetlike condition on apair of spaced permanent poles.

It is another object of this invention to provide a pair of flexiblebanners or signs having spaced upper suspension means on separate spacedpoles and lower tension means between the poles.

It is another object of this invention to provide banner mountingconstruction in which a pair of flexible sheetlike banners are mountedon opposite sides of a pair of spaced upright poles in a boxlike mannerand'in which the poles serve as spacers for holding and maintaining thebanners parallel to each other.

2,961,787 Patented Nov.. 29, 1960 It is a further object of thisinvention to provide banner mounting construction having suspension andtension means on spaced upright poles which hold the banners in flatsheetlike status under varying Weather conditions, yielding onlytemporarily to strong gusts of wind.

Finally, it is an object of this invention to provide a mountingconstruction for temporary sheetlike flexible signs having the foregoingfeatures that is simple to install and inexpensive to manufacture.

These and other objects and advantages apparent to those skilled in theart from the following description and claims may be obtained, thestated results achieved and the described difficulties overcome by thediscoveries, principles, apparatus, parts, combinations,subcombinations, and elements which comprise the present invention, thenature of which is set forth in the following statement, preferredembodiments of whichillustrative of the best mode in which applicant hascontemplated applying the principles-are set forth in the followingdescription, and which are particularly and distinctly pointed out andset forth in the appended claims forming part hereof. h

The nature of the present invention may be stated in general terms asincluding a pair of upright standards, two banner components composed offlexible sheetlike material, suspension and tension means mounting thebanner components on opposite sides of the standards, the suspensionmeans including brackets secured on each spaced upright standard, eachbracket having banner component engaging hook means on opposite sides ofthe standard, the hook means of the brackets on corresponding sides ofthe standards being disposed in the planes of'the banner components,each bracket having portions interconnecting the hook means on oppositesides of each standard, said connecting portions being engageable snuglywith the sides of the corresponding standards, the tension meansincluding an elongated flexible pole band extending around and betweenthe standards, spring means extending between the flexible pole band andthe lower ends of the banner components, and the distance between thelower ends of the banner components and the flexible pole band beingslightly greater than the length of the contracted spring means.

By Way of example, preferred embodiments of this invention areillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a permanent sign supported on a pairof upright poles, and showing banner components mounted on the poles;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken throughthe banner components;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the banner componentsshowing the banner mounting means in greater detail; 7

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view, taken on aline above the banner components;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the banner components taken ona line below the banner components;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on a line similar to that ofFig. 5 and showing the use of poles of round rather than rectangularcross section;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the U-shaped hooks used on therectangular poles; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the U-shaped hooks used on poles havinga round cross section. 7

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the various figuresof the drawings.

A permanent sign 1 is mounted on a pair of spaced upright poles orstandards 2 and 3, the lower ends of which are secured to a base 4 asshown in Fig. 1. A pair of flexible banner components or signs and 6(Figs. 2 and 3) are mounted on the poles 2 and 3 on opposite sidesthereof and substantially parallel to each other. The banners or signs 5and 6 are preferably rectangular members having a substantially verticallongitudinal axis. Each banner 5 and 6 is composed of a sheetlikematerial or cloth and upper and lower ends of the banners are providedwith similar hcmlike borders or sleeves such as upper and lower sleeves7 and 8. A stiffener member or pull bar 9 is inserted in and extendsthrough the sleeves 7 and 8 as shown in Fig. 2. The members or bars 9may be composed of wood, metal or other suitable rigid material which isadapted to sustain the flexible banner components 5 and 6 in flat, taut,vertical planes when mounted on the poles 2 and 3.

The banner components 5 and 6 are mounted on the poles 2 and 3 by uppermounting means generally indicated at 10 and lower mounting meansgenerally indi cated at 11 which combine to maintain the sheetlikebanner components in flat, taut planes between the upper and lower pairsof pull bars 9. The upper mounting means 10 for each pole includes apole band 12, a band clamp 13, and a U-shaped bracket 14. The lowermounting means 11 is a tension means which includes a pole band 15, aclip 16, a pair of springs 17 and 18, and an S-hook 19 by which thesprings are attached to the clip 16.

As shown in the drawings, the pole band 12 encircles each pole 2 and 3and is secured tightly in place by tightening the clamp 13. Each bracket14, as more clearly shown in Fig. 7, is composed of heavy gauge wirematerial and includes a transverse portion 20, lateral portions 21,downturned sides 22, and end hooks 23. Each bracket 14 is held in placeby a pole clamp 12 which engages the downturned sides 22 directly belowthe transverse and lateral portions 20 and 21 to hold said portions andsides snugly in place against the sides of the pole. The length of thetransverse portion 20 is substantially equal to the side of the pole 2or 3 so that the transverse portion provides a connection betweenopposite pairs of hooks 23 and reinforces maintenance of the position ofthe bracket 14 on the pole. The particular configuration of the bracket14 including the transverse and lateral portions 20 and 21 together withthe downturned sides 22 cooperates with the pole band 12 to maintain thebracket 14 rigidly on the pole. Accordingly, the brackets 14 constitutethe upper mounting means for the two banner components 5 and 6 byproviding hooks 23 on opposite sides of each pole 2 and 3.

As shown in Fig. 2, the upper pull bars 9 are provided with apertures 24which are spaced from each other by a distance equal to the spacingbetween the hooks 23 on the spaced poles 2 and 3. In addition, thebanner components are provided with apertures 25 aligned with the holes24 in the pull bars 9 whereby the assembled banner component and pullbar are secured to the hooks 23 by setting the apertures 24 and 25 onthe hooks. Both pairs of brackets 14 thus provide upper mounting meansfor the banner components 5 and 6.

As shown in Fig. 3, the lower mounting means 11 include the pole band 15having a thumb-tightened clamp 26 extending between and around the poles2 and 3 where the band is held tightly in place. The clip 16 enclosesthe central portions of the pole band 15 and together with the 8-hook 19provides connecting means for the lower ends of the springs 17 and 18.The upper ends of the springs 17 and 18 include similar hooks 27 whichengage aligned apertures 28 and 29 in the lower pull bars 9 and bannercomponents 5 and 6 in a manner similar to the hooks 23 and apertures 24and 25 at the upper ends of the banner components. The distance betweenthe upper ends of the S-hooks 19 and the lower end of the bannercomponents 5 and 6 is slightly greater than the length of the springs 17and 18 including the upper hooks: 27 and lower hooks 30 engaging theS-hook 19 so that the banner components 5 and 6 when mounted are undertension created by the springs.

Inasmuch as the upper ends of the banner components 5 and 6 arepreferably symmetrically mounted on the hooks 23 with respect to theouter ends of the pull bars 9, it is preferred that the springs 17 and18 likewise be symmetrically mounted with respect to the lower pull bars9, that is, the apertures 28 and 29 in the pull bars 9 and bannercomponents 5 and 6 are centrally disposed with respect to the ends ofthe lower pull bars 9.

As shown in Fig. 3, the outer extremities of the lower pull bars aresecured together by interconnecting spacers 31 which together with thelower mounting means 11 facilitate the maintenance of the boxlikeassembly of the banner components 5 and 6 and provide reinforcement inand between the spaced lower ends of the banner components.

Where the upright poles have circular cross sections as shown at 32 and33 in Fig. 6 rather than square as in Figs. 1-5, a U-shaped bracket 34(Fig. 8) having a configuration diiferent from that of the bracket 14 ofFig. 7 may be provided. The bracket 34 is modified to include a circularportion 35 which connects spaced sides 36 and 37 which extendsdownwardly from the circular portion. Like the bracket 14,. the lowerends of the sides 36 and 37 are provided with similar hooks 38 forengagement with the upper ends of the banner components in a mannersimilar to the hooks 23 as shown in Fig. 3. The configuration of thecircular portion 35 corresponds with the outer radius of the poles 32and 33 so that the circular portion is held snugly in place by polebands in a manner similar to the pole bands 12 and thereby prevents thelower hooks 38 from being moved such as by twisting accidentally out ofplace.

The boxlike structure of the banner components 5 and 6 is maintained bythe upper and lower mounting means 10 and 11 in combination with thespaced upright poles 2 and 3. As shown in Fig. 2, the lower ends atleast of the banner components 5 and 6 are in contact with the poleswhich serve as spacer means for the banner components. The spacers 31combine with the poles 2 and 3 and lower mounting means 11 to hold thelower ends of the banner components tightly against the poles 2 and 3 inspaced relationship. As a result of the foregoing construction, thebanner components 5 and 6 may yield either individually or together inresponse to strong gusts of wind against the force of the springs 17 and18. For example, either or both of the banner components 5 and 6 may beblown into innumerable curved shapes temporarily out of flat surface inresponse to strong gusts of wind. However, the springs 17 and 18together with the upper mounting means eventually correct the shape bypulling the banner components 5 and 6 back into fiat surfaces which arebest adapted for reading the advertising matter on the bannercomponents. Finally, the upper and lower banner mounting componentspermit the banner components to expand and contract due to varyingweather conditions such as the sun and rain.

In the foregoing description certain terms have been used for brevity,clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations are to beimplied therefrom as such words are used for descriptive purposes hereinand are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiment of the improved construction illustrated anddescribed herein is by way of example and the scope of the presentinvention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown.

Having now described the features, constructions, and principles of theinvention, the characteristics of the new banner mounting construction,and the advantageous, new and useful results provided; the new anduseful discoveries, principles, parts, elements, combinations,subcombinations, structures and arrangements, and mechanical equivalentsobvious to those skilled in the art are,

set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

In banner mounting construction of the type in which two flexiblesheetlike banner components are mounted on opposite sides of uprightpole means, in which upper suspension means and lower tension means aresecured on the pole for holding the banners tautly in place, and inwhich the upper suspension means includes an elongated flexible poleband tightly encircling the pole means, the improvement in thesuspension means including at least one bracket composed of an elongatedwirelike member, the bracket having a central portion, intermediateportions, and hooked end portions, the central portion being disposed ina plane perpendicular to that of the intermediate and hooked endportions, the central portion having a configuration corresponding to aportion of the outer surface of the pole means, the intermediateportions being held against and on opposite sides of the pole means by 6the pole band with the central portion snugly secured against the outersurface of the pole means for preventing movement of the bracket withrespect to the pole, and each hooked portion engaging an aperture in theupper end portion of a banner component.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS614,799 Dodson Nov. 22, 1898 2,764,830 Frey Oct. 2, 1956 2,882,630 FreyApr. 21, 1959 2,893,147 Mollet III July 7, 1959 2,894,657 Griffin July14, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 716,287 France Oct. 6, 1931

